April 2011 Newsletter

Spring is in the air, and so are new hobbies. Last month, my soon to be 15 year old daughter let me know that she would like voice lessons with a voice coach. I have to tell you that what immediately came to my mind was the "musical graveyard" of once played and now discarded instruments in my basement.


Maybe I'm crazy. I said sure, but (here comes the maybe I'm a tad mean) you'll need to find the coach and then pay for the lessons yourself from your babysitting money. If you stick with it for a year, possibly even 6 months, I'll look at sharing the cost with you.


She said sure and then how do I do that? From there, I helped my daughter find a professional voice coach association, which led to recommendations.  

"Great", she said, "now what". I said, "I guess you need to call them". Her response, "What do I say". From there, we had a great conversation on what she wanted from a coach which included among other things, patience and honesty. She didn't want to spend her money on someone if she didn't have talent. She then developed some phone screen questions and what an ideal response would be. Of course, she needed to know cost. Could she really afford a voice coach?

 

Once my daughter determined who she liked over the phone, she scheduled in person meetings with two coaches. I'm not really mean; I did drive her to the meetings. However, once I arrived, I stayed in the background and didn't intervene. One of the meetings lasted an hour, the other 20 minutes.

 

Once interviewed, my daughter was a little stressed. You see, she liked one of the coaches better than the other. One coach charged $50 an hour and the other charged $40 for a ½ hour. In this case, I did intervene. I asked her to think about the meetings, and what was accomplished. She told me that she liked the more expensive one because she actually felt like she accomplished more with her. I then asked her how long did she meet with each coach. She said, about the same amount of time. When I let her know that she had actually been with the more expensive coach only 20 minutes and the other for an hour; she said, "Wow, just imagine what I can accomplish in 30 minutes". Voila! Her decision was made on her own - with just a little help from mom.

  

Does the process my daughter used to find a voice coach sound familiar? I hope so because it is pretty much the same process we use when we need to hire someone. As luck would have it, I have included an article in this month's newsletter on creating a recruiting process. Be sure to read it and if you need help creating, establishing or evaluating your existing recruiting and/or HR processes, be sure to contact The HR Team.


Congratulations Karen Warthen,
SPHR           

 

Please join me in congratulating Karen on her  well-deserved promotion to Consulting Director. 
As you may or may not know, Karen just celebrated her 10 year anniversary with The HR Team.
During her tenure, Karen has successfully demonstrated an ever increasing level of client
interactions,  superb leadership, amazing organization skills and unmatched tenacity.  Staff
members and clients have come to rely on her as the "one who can figure it out" and the "rock".

 

In her new role, Karen is responsible for strategic human resources planning, quality control,
staffing and staff development and project planning.  


Please Welcome Lisa Congedo, SPHR    


Lisa started with us this month as a Senior HR Generalist. Lisa has 20 years of diverse HR
experience working for companies like Daycon, Bio Reg Associates, Corvis, Magellan Health,
and most recently the Maryland SPCA.  More importantly, Lisa has that great can-do attitude
that we all have here, and is looking forward to digging into client work, which will initially be
Kramer and Amado and CMTP.
 

Lisa graduated from UMBC and is a certified HR professional.

As an Ellicott City resident, Lisa spends her free time volunteering with several animal rescue organizations, and is on the board of Centennial Lane Elementary.  


James Bolduc Named President and COO of JPB Enterprises 

Jim received his undergraduate degree in Business Economics and Finance from the University of Notre Dame in 1990. Subsequently, he worked for Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a two-year period (1990 - 1992) in preparation for entering graduate school. At M&I, he served as a Management Associate in Commercial Banking and also with Mason Wells, M&I's private equity subsidiary. He then entered the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business in 1992, and was graduated with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 1994. During the summer of 1993, he worked as a Financial Analyst (Intern) for the President of the Florida Marlins Professional Baseball Team, in Miami, Florida. From 1994 to 1997, he worked as an Associate in the Investment Banking Group of Merrill Lynch & Co., in New York, New York.


James (Jim) joined JPB in March of 1997. Since that time, he has been heavily involved in every aspect of JPB's businesses. "This promotion was the outgrowth of a succession plan initiated to assure that the future leadership of JPB would be left in the hands of a proven and experienced leader. "Jim is as fully prepared and experienced today to lead JPB into the future as I am," said J.P. Bolduc, Chairman and CEO of JPB.


Richard Story Joins JPB


JPB Enterprises, Inc. ("JPB") announced that Richard "Dick" Story, Howard County's former Chief Executive Officer for the Economic Development Authority, has joined the firm as its Senior Vice President for Marketing. 

 

In his role with JPB, Mr. Story is responsible for developing and executing a marketing and sales strategy while branding "JPB" into a cohesive and consistent image across its three product lines-private equity, real estate development and advisory services. Mr. Story's consummate abilities as a communicator and relationship-builder, his wealth of experience and impressive business acumen will be an essential element in conveying JPB's platform of services to the market and expanding its presence and awareness.


Not Hiring the Jobless? 


Some companies appear to avoid hiring people who are not already employed. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is trying to figure out whether it's a common tactic that could violate job discrimination laws.

 

While an employer may feel that people who are working have more current experience, the EEOC says the move could be unfair to blacks, Latinos and other minorities who have higher unemployment rates. It could also decrease the chances of a recently discharged veteran to get a job.   


Revised FSLA

The Wage and Hour Division has published a final rule to revise regulations pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) and the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (Portal Act) that have become out of date because of subsequent legislation. These revisions conform the regulations to FLSA amendments passed in 1974, 1977, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2007, and Portal Act amendments passed in 1996. For more information, see the final rule which is effective May 5, 2011. 

 


Creating A Recruiting Process
 

Many organizations find themselves in an interesting trap.  They know that they need to hire someone, so they post the position in the local paper and call a headhunter, interview applicants and choose the most promising applicant for the job.  Unfortunately, a couple months down the road, you may find that you did NOT hire the best person for the job and the expectations of you and your new employee do not line up at all.  Not only that, you over-paid both the employee and the headhunter.  You may ask yourself, "What could I have done differently?"  The answer:  devise a recruiting process.

 

A recruiting process does not have to be elaborate.  However, following a consistent process can lead to lower costs, lower turnover, higher productivity and although not guaranteed can lead to something that is defensible in a court of law.  By making your company's goal to recruit and select the best candidate for every position, you can comply with federal, state and local regulations to form a diverse and inclusive workforce.


When creating your company's personalized recruiting process, you should cover the following points:

1.     Form a general statement that reflects your company's attitude on the importance of effective recruiting.

2.     Define what is expected of each individual in the organization.

3.     Determine if you have an open job. Do not assume because someone left your organization, you have an opening. In many cases, responsibilities can be shuffled, people can be promoted or the function can be outsourced or eliminated altogether.

4.     Thoroughly analyze the position to create an all-inclusive job description. The following should be clear: title, location, reporting structure, salary range, FLSA status (exempt/non exempt), appropriate approvals, summary of job, duties, responsibilities, qualifications, education, certifications, physical demands, and work environment.

5.     Think about what questions you want to ask applicants. Make sure that you know what may be legally asked in an interview. Your policy should have this information listed in it.

6.     Decide where you are going to find the type of people you need, what internal and external sources you will use, and how much you want to spend to find the right person.

7.     Once you start interviewing applicants, make sure you are fair and consistent. Typical processes include the following: welcome the applicant, outline the interview, ask questions, listen, close the interview properly, and record information.

8.     Accommodate any disabilities. If your organization has more than 20 employees, you will want to include a statement that makes it clear that you provide individuals with disabilities the reasonable accommodations they need to interview. This might include a sign language interpreter, written rather than oral responses, large print or Braille material, and/or an accessible location. Interviews should be held in offices or conference rooms that are private and easily accessible to individuals with disabilities.

9.     Determine how you would like the hiring managers to communicate their final selection.

10.  Check references. Companies can avoid many embarrassing situations by accurately checking the information on the prospective employee's application. Decide if this process will be done in-house or outsourced.

11.  Decide what type of approval process your organization will follow. Also, determine who makes the offer and whether it is in writing, over the phone, or in person.

12.  Set a start date. Once the candidate accepts the offer, start the wheels in motion on what needs to happen before their first day on the job.

13.  Send letters out to the candidates that were not selected for the position. In the letter, mention your record retention process and return any materials for record keeping requirements.

14.  Decide who will be in charge of the new employee¹s orientation. Make sure that the employee is informed with what they need to know to be successful in your organization. Explain all forms that the new employee must fill out and their relevance. 

By spending the extra time and effort to find an employee who is a good fit with your company, you will ensure that you have chosen the best candidate for the job.


Couples Running a Business - Making "Copreneurship" Work

About a third of all family businesses are run by husband-and-wife teams. Sometimes the entrepreneurs (also called copreneurs) have a great relationship and their business thrives.

Small business specialists at North Dakota State University say the secret to making it work is having a good marriage in the first place. Even then, the constant interaction, the trials of doing business in a difficult economy, and juggling work and personal life can be daunting.

Advice for copreneurs

  • Each partner should take on the role he or she fills best. The one who is a great salesperson might not be the best choice for business manager or technology administrator.
  • If this is a partnership, one spouse should not work for the other as an employee. Discuss how the business is running but skip over-critiquing each other's work. 
  • Avoid letting arguments get personal. And avoid letting personal arguments affect the business. 
  • Don't hold a grudge. Settle everything by the end of the day. If at all possible, don't let business problems spill over into your personal life. 
  • Put personal time on your schedule. Visit friends, have a date night, or walk together for relaxation and good health. 
  • Find trusted employees or business advisers. They can help settle differences of opinion about the business or the path the business should take in the future. 
  • Don't make major decisions without consulting your spouse.

To explore the issue further, check Sleeping with Your Business Partner: Communications for Couples in Business Together by Dr. Mike Gross and Dr. Becky Stewart-Gross.

For couples thinking of starting a business, advisors at The Wall Street Journal suggest they both jot down what they hope to accomplish. Then see if their goals mesh.  If one wants to move full speed ahead and the other looks forward to having more time for sports and long lunches, going into business together might not be a good idea.  


  
 

 

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